The Affero Blog
One Spark Can Start A Fire – I’M IN
By Lucas Parry in News
We started the “I’M IN” campaign a few months ago as a united declaration of young people who are passionate about helping end extreme poverty and injustice worldwide. Poverty and injustice come in many forms, so we’ve done our best to represent these global issues in 12 categories with a goal to affect positive change in each area.
In the last 3 months we’ve seen many people declare “IM IN” and we’ve even attracted some celebrities. The entire Affero community gets excited when we grow in number because it means were able to give away more money to phenomenal organizations changing the world! Here’s a list of some of the celebs who are joining us declaring “I’M IN” – If you haven’t yet, join us today for as little as $1 a month!
Actors:
Musicians:
And These Awesome orgs:
A Random Facebook Message
By Beau Miller in News
Hey everyone, I hope all of you are doing well, and I apologize for the delay in getting this posted. Almost twelve hours late to be exact. Well, if blogging is anything like showing up to parties, this just means I’m super cool. I wish this were the case, but the truth is, I am filled with joy thanks to this post, while simultaneously dreading the fact that I’ve got to write it. I know this sounds rather contradictory, so I guess I’ll just have to start at the beginning.
I spent this past weekend on Lake Erie with my family. We had a great time – laughing, lounging and catching up with old friends. I even got a chance to get some important work done while sitting on the porch and listening to the waves crash less than ten feet away from me. The porch made for a sweet office until the tornado sirens went off, but that’s a whole different story. Anyway, I’m working on my computer when all of the sudden I see that I’ve got a new Facebook message. As someone who got about two pieces of mail throughout my entire childhood, a new Facebook message is like Christmas morning to me. Pathetic? Maybe. The truth? You bet. So I open it up and see that it’s from a really cool looking girl with funky red hair and sweet, artsy glasses named Taryn. Even cooler than her hair and glasses was the message she sent. Here it is:
“Hi Beau,
I don’t mean to randomly add you, though that’s what I’m totally doing. Ha! But, I saw the Affero Project [I’M IN] video you posted on Aaron’s page. Watched it, loved it, and now I’m a donor! I am so passionate about social justice and it’s so nice to see that other people are too! Anyway, I hope you’re having the best day ever!”
What an awesome message! I knew right then and there that I had to call Taryn and write something about her for the blog this week. So I did. We talked and then we ended up talking more, and it was cool, and it got even cooler, and she was sweet and got even sweeter, and she told some stories, and then they got funnier and more awesome. And this, my friends, is why I am dreading this post. I’ve got so much cool stuff to share, and I’ve only got about 1000 words to do it. Taryn has so much life to squeeze into a thousand words, but I’m going to do my best. Here’s the highlight reel from our conversation…
- Beau: So Taryn, tell me about yourself…
- Taryn: I don’t know what to say.
- Beau: Anything. Let’s hear the whole Taryn story. I’ve got time.
- Taryn: Well, I’m 22-years-old, I live in Phoenix and I work for Feed My Starving Children. Best job in the world!
- Beau: Sweet, tell me about it. What do you do?
- Taryn: Feed My Starving Children was started in 1987 when our founder went to Honduras and experienced all of the wonderful people who desperately needed food and water. He came back, called General Mills and Cargill and started collecting food. Today, we package fortified rice meals with volunteers that cost 19 cents each, and we send them out across the globe. We packaged 3 million meals in 2003 and we are estimating that we’ll do 127 million meals this year!
- Beau: Wow! That’s incredible. What a blessing you are to others. Tell me some more about yourself…
- Taryn: I’m studying nursing. Really love it. I think I might want to go back to Africa someday and help sick people there.
- Beau: Back to Africa?!?! Let’s hear about the first time.
- Taryn: I traveled with a music ministry called Youth Encounter for two years playing drums. The first year we traveled the east coast of the U.S., the second we went to Uganda and Tanzania. It was the best time! I miss it. I miss the amazing kids.
- Beau: This is so cool. So you’ve been to Africa with a music ministry, you’re serving the hungry right now and your heart is in medical missions. No wonder you joined The Affero Project! Tell me how it all comes together. You obviously find lots of joy in serving others.
- Taryn: Yes! I do. It bums me out when people think that there have to be specified times and places for serving and being charitable. I think that 24 hours a day, 7 days a week is a good time to be charitable.
- Beau: Haha, me too! Will you share a little about your dreams for the future?
- Taryn: Dreams… Well, if God says to stay in the U.S. I’d love to work in the ER with trauma patients, but I’d really love to live in Africa too. One of my biggest passions is working with women. I’ve met so many wonderful women living in oppressive cultures who don’t feel beautiful or significant. I want tell all of them how beautiful and precious they are. Just because God made them and loves them!
- Beau: This is beautiful. Thanks so much for sharing. How about your church?
- Taryn: I go to a non-denominational Christian churched in Tempe called Praxis. I love it there. They preach the gospel and live it out. That’s what matters…and 92% of our members are under 26, so that’s cool too.
- Beau: Sounds like a great place. Hopefully I can visit someday. Do you like music?
- Taryn: Yes, I love it. Listening to The Civil Wars a lot lately. You’ve got to check them out. They rock.
- Beau: I certainly will. I feel like I could talk to you forever, but it’s getting late and I have family members screaming at me about how much time I spend on the phone and how they want me to play cards, so I’m going to have to wrap this exploration into awesomeness up. (Note – “exploration into awesomeness” is even lamer when you type it out!) But before we go, tell me something crazy about yourself…
- Taryn: Well, I don’t know about crazy. A lot of stuff I do is crazy!
- Beau: How about something embarrassing?
- Taryn: OK. Here’s one for you. I’m a life-long Phoenix Suns fan, and when I was like 6 years old I would lie in bed every night and sing the national anthem before I went to sleep. My dream was to sing it at a Suns game. Long story short, I never thought anyone heard me, until I grew up and my mom let me know how funny and cute it was to hear me sing every night!
- Beau: That’s funny. Did you ever sing at a Suns game?
- Taryn: Nope.
- Beau: There’s still time. I’ll be calling the Phoenix Suns and we’ll see what we can do…
- Taryn: Don’t! Haha.
- Beau: OK, I won’t. But I am going to share it in my blog.
- Taryn: It’s cool.
- Beau: This has been great. Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me. I’m filled with joy and really inspired.
- Taryn: Me too. Have a great night Beau. I’m so glad we’re friends.
- Beau: Me too. Talk to you later Taryn.
And that’s the condensed story of Taryn. An extraordinary young woman with a huge heart for Christ, justice, and a beautiful singing voice too. I did my best to keep it short, but we passed 1000 words a long time ago and I’m totally cool with that. Taryn, thanks for being who you were created to be. Every time I talk to people like you and all of our other unbelievable Affero members, I am inspired beyond compare. Keep on rocking and singing your song…you’re so darn interesting I’m sure we’d all love to hear you sing from the phone book. Until next week everybody…
Peace,
Beau
P.S. What made you smile today?
Getting Hairy
By Lucas Parry in News
Sam Davidson, our good friend from over at www.coolpeoplecare.com blogged this today – I thought it worthy of a share!
“Whether you rock a bob, an Afro, a perm or a Justin Bieber, your hair can be used to help clean up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Matter of Trust takes hair clippings both from humans and pets and turns them into super-absorbent mats that can help soak up stray oil. We didn’t believe it at first, but this story and video from the LA Times shows how it works. So, if you’re set for a trim in the next few days, ask your barber to bag those clippings and send them to Matter of Trust.”
“Im In” Campaign
Get Ready, Set…..
In a few months we officially launch the “I’m In Campaign”. Already, we have Christian Recording artists like, Brandon Heath, Natalie Grant, 10th Ave North, Britt Nicole, The Glorious Unseen, The Ember Days, Audrey Assad and Philip LaRue joining together to give voice to the community. The campaign is a simple, a united declaration that WE, (you and I) stand for and join the fight against global poverty and injustice. Its a declaration that we aren’t afraid to tackle some of the greatest humanitarian issues in the world and that we are willing to do something about it.
We’ll be releasing a series of videos with music artists, celebrities, film stars, sports figures and more who join with us in this declaration… and even more importantly, you’ll have the opportunity to submit your own video’s declaring that you’re in. We’ll have t-shirts, hats, stickers and heaps more for you to wear with pride as you declare loud that ‘Your In’. More on this to come… stay tuned.